Officials are struggling to find suitable land for housing in the face of 'infinite' demand from indigenous New Territories residents to build village houses, the development minister says.
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was speaking as approvals and applications from villagers exercising their right to build under a four-decade-old policy hit record levels for at least the past 10 years.
'I must point out that the biggest trouble for us [in seeking housing land] is the demand for small houses today cannot be quantified. It could be infinitely high,' said the secretary for development, who poured cold water on expanding village zones and allowing bigger village houses.
According to figures obtained by the South China Morning Post, 2,154 applications for building small houses were received by the Lands Department in the past year, and it granted 1,344. Both figures were the highest since at least 2001. There are 6,339 outstanding applications.
Lam was referring to a policy that began in 1972, under which indigenous male descendants have the right to build a three-storey house with a footprint of 700 square feet on their own land or on government land zoned for villages.
Urban residents have long criticised it as unfair while beneficiaries argue it is part of their 'traditional rights' protected by the Basic Law.
Lam said demands by the rural representative body, Heung Yee Kuk, for continuous land supply for small houses would pose a 'very big difficulty'. 'If we considerably expand village zones ... it will have an adverse impact on our job in satisfying the housing needs of general citizens and in developing other industries.'
